


EPISODE TWO: "I Don't Dance"

by gaypetersimmonds



Series: Skam Brighton: Season Three [3]
Category: Original Work, SKAM (Norway)
Genre: (16 year old with an adult), Canon Autistic Character, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Character of Color, Canon Jewish Character, Canon Trans Character, Episode 2, F/M, Gen, SKAM Season 3, and for homoeroticism, and for weed smoking, hello welcome to Gay Catholic Repression, i construct intricate rituals to talk about bare, oh the bare rituals are INTRICATE they ARE, stan bare heart emoji, tw for mention of death, tw for talked about pedophilia, which isn't seen on screen and is talked about as a Bad Thing because it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:51:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21009275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaypetersimmonds/pseuds/gaypetersimmonds
Summary: Jake Love is tired. Tired of pretending that he likes his friends, that he doesn’t like his ex-friends. Tired of pretending that he likes girls. But he's happy enough to sleep through life.That is, until he gets a wake up call from the new guy at school.As they become closer friends, Jake’s worries get higher and higher, and he’s going to do whatever he can not to fall.FIRST CLIP: "Why Am I Straight Jake?"





	1. CLIP ONE: "Why Am I Straight Jake?"

**SUNDAY, 13TH OCTOBER, 12:59**

EXT. CHURCH

_“East Jesus Nowhere” by Green Day_ plays (beginning at 1:33) as we pan over the church, which has a bold metal cross at the very top of its spire.

We see groups of people scattered across the churchyard, all coming out from that day's service, CHRISTINE standing by the door, next to a PRIEST

JAKE is standing against the garden wall of the church, on his phone. He’s searching “Alistair Fletcher” on Instagram, but can't seem to find anything that looks like him.

NICK [O.S.]  
Yo.

NICK leans against the wall beside JAKE, who nods at him, quickly holding his phone to his chest. This has clearly happened before.

NICK  
Your mum?

JAKE  
Talking to Father.

NICK  
Ah. My parents are with their good Catholic friends. Thought I would join you in sinners’ corner.

JAKE nervously laughs.

JAKE  
Yeah, where the weed smoking demons come out to play.

NICK winks at him as the Grindr notification sounds goes off. NICK gets his phone out, JAKE watching, trying to be casual, as he scans the crowd of old people and families in front of him.

NICK  
Oh damn!

NICK shows his phone to JAKE, where a picture of a burly man easily in his 40s is.

NICK  
He’s hot, right?

JAKE  
Why are you asking me?

NICK  
You have eyes and you’re not blind. Yet.

JAKE  
You know I’m straight, right?

NICK  
You can see that that tree’s pretty, so you can see that this man is pretty, come on!

JAKE rolls his eyes and looks closer at the picture.

JAKE  
Yeah, guys my parents' age aren't really my type.

NICK  
Okay, hettie, he’s mine though.

NICK starts to type a message to the guy, as JAKE looks back at his phone, scrolling through various accounts with the name “Alistair Fletcher”, none of them being his ALISTAIR.

JAKE  
How do you know?

NICK  
What?

JAKE  
How do you know he’s, you know… I mean, he’s here with his wife and kids.

NICK  
Could be closeted. Could be bi. Could be being catfished. Either way, he’s planning to fuck me in an hour, so we’re all happy.

JAKE  
Yeah, but… How do you know?

NICK  
Jesus, he asked me if he could, and I quote--

JAKE  
I don’t wanna hear it!

NICK laughs.

NICK  
Why? Does it gross you out?

JAKE  
No! I just don’t think you should be talking about that stuff, you know, near the church.

NICK  
Come on, we don’t believe in that shit.

JAKE shrugs, looking down.

JAKE  
I kind of do.

NICK  
Okay, if you want to believe in fairytales, bro. But you were the one to bring up gay shit, so…

JAKE  
I was just curious.

NICK  
Heard that before...

JAKE  
I'm not gay, Nick.

NICK  
[sarcastic] Okay, sure. But if a guy starts talking about how much he loves theatre or fashion or how much he wants to suck Harry Styles' dick, he’s probably gay. Does that satisfy you, Straight Jake?

JAKE  
Why am I "Straight Jake"?

NICK points at the GRINDR GUY, with his arm around his wife.

NICK  
Because he’s the main Jake in my life.

JAKE laughs, and then turns to him deadpan.

JAKE  
Fuck off, Nick.

NICK  
Nah, you love me.

JAKE  
No, I love not being alone.

NICK nods sarcastically as CHRISTINE marches over, upset.

CHRISTINE  
Jake, we’re going, say bye to your little friend.

NICK, who’s at least 6 foot tall, waves awkwardly to her, as she pulls JAKE away, making him almost drop his phone.

CHRISTINE  
Honestly, who does that man think he is? I ask to do one reading every day for a month, and I get nothing but no!

JAKE  
Mum, you remember what happened last time, right?

CHRISTINE  
My reading was better than whatever rubbish he had planned! Not that the Bible could ever be rubbish, it just-- It didn’t fit the whole sermon!

Several people they’re walking past turn to look at them.

JAKE  
Mum, you have to respect what Father Raines says.

CHRISTINE  
Flynn Raines can shove his Bible--

JAKE

Okay, let’s wait ‘til we get home, shall we?

CHRISTINE   
Right, right… I’ll email him.

JAKE  
[whispers to himself] Oh God… 

They walk out of the gate of the church, past some OLD LADIES.

OLD LADY  
Poor thing, she went mad after he husband died.

The other OLD LADIES tut as CHRISTINE walks a bit quicker, as _“Cherry Wine” by Nas and Amy Winehouse_ starts to play. JAKE turning around and glaring at the OLD LADY who spoke. She looks at him pityingly. His confidence falls and he nervously looks down, running a hand through his hair and walking after CHRISTINE, not bothering to catch up with her.

He looks down at his phone, at a message from ELEANOR - “Had SO much fun with you yesterday. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow babe.” JAKE turns his phone off and puts it in his pocket, walking on, his eyes losing focus.


	2. CLIP TWO: "Sit And Look Pretty"

**MONDAY, 14TH OCTOBER, 08:36**

INT. HALLWAY

_“It's OK, I Wouldn't Remember Me Either” by Crywank_ plays as JAKE sits on the hallway floor, alone, earphones in, staring ahead at the wall in front of him as legs walk past, hurried, together, seeming to know where they're going.

His phone lights up and he looks down at it. There’s a text from BRYAN saying “Dude, I thought we were meeting up at Gregg’s. Where the fuck are you?”. JAKE sighs and responds “Sorry, Mum had a bad night, couldn’t get out.” BRYAN responds “Okay. See you at school.”

He pauses for a moment, and then googles “Alistair Fletcher”. He doesn’t get any good responses, just old Facebook profiles of old men. He turns his phone back off and stares ahead again, as people pass by him.

He looks up and sees ELEANOR quickly walking past, looking stressed out. She doesn’t see him, but he watches her go.

JAKE googles “Eleanor Early”, and a Youtube channel comes up straight away. He taps on it and it goes to the Youtube app, to ELEANOR’s channel, that has around 4000 subscribers. He slides over to the videos and scrolls through many musical theatre covers, all with ELEANOR in the thumbnail. There are several of these videos with ALISTAIR in the thumbnail, usually mid-pose or sitting at a piano. He passes a 2 hour long video of "Be More Chill", before stopping.

He’s looking at a video titled “Quick Interview With BMC Assistant Director/Choreographer/Last Minute Jeremy!” that has ALISTAIR smiling nervously in a blue cardigan as the thumbnail. No ELEANOR in sight. JAKE pauses his song. He smiles slightly and plays the video.

KAYLA [O.S.]  
Hey Ellie, I stole your camera! This is Kayla, AKA [sings] _ Christiiiiiine Canigula _, [speaks] and I am here with my onstage boyfriend, Alistair Thomas Fletcher!

ALISTAIR nervously laughs and waves at the camera.

KAYLA [O.S.]  
So, Al, you choreographed and helped direct the show right?

ALISTAIR laughs again.

ALISTAIR  
Yeah… I mean, I pretty much directed it myself. You know how Eleanor’s mum is.

KAYLA [O.S.]  
Yeah. [laughs] So, how’d you do that?

ALISTAIR  
I just… did? I guess? I mean, it’s what I do. It’s easy.

KAYLA [O.S.]  
Alright. Um, who would you say is your biggest inspiration, directing wise?

ALISTAIR  
Oh, most definitely Michael Arden! Non-theatre, I love Jordan Peele, Bo Burnham, Baz Luhrmann, Even Bech Næsheim… Oh, but also Rachel Chavkin, she’s amazing, you know, she did Great Comet and Hadestown, absolute icon. But Michael Arden… God, you’ve seen Deaf West Spring Awakening, right? The bootleg of it? I’ve seen about five different ones, God, I would give anything I have to see even a second of it live. And Once On This Island too? And God, he’s such a good performer too, it’s insane! Hunchback was just amazing, and God, he’s really handsome. And he’s been publicly gay for so long! Speaking of, his Peter in Bare: A Pop Opera is legendary! Literally, his See Me, his Absolution, his Bare, he’s just amazing! And, God, it would be so amazing to direct Bare! Or be in it! Or both! I would literally die! God, Bare is literally the best show. Like, the nuance in every character and song and like, every single line is important! And the love story - God! I mean, what even _ is _a love story if one of the couple doesn’t die? Exactly! Nothing! I mean, even the jokes all mean things, it’s so cleverly done, especially with Sister Chantelle, God, she literally invented LGBT rights. It’s literally one of the best written shows, minus the light racism, obviously, and such an inspiration, oh my God. And literally, every single character has flaws and everything’s so real and raw, and the Catholic influences! God, and--

KAYLA [O.S.]  
Hey, I don’t see what this has to do with directing.

ALISTAIR laughs, clearly embarrassed as JAKE smiles at him.

ALISTAIR  
Right, right… Um, well… Yeah… 

WOMAN [O.S.]  
What are you doing?! The show start in two minutes!

ALISTAIR  
Fuck! I need to get my trousers off!

He runs off and the camera turns to the ground and goes black, as JAKE muffles his laugh with his hand. He presses replay on the video immediately, it begins to play for one second, but then the phone is kicked out of his hand, his earphones coming out. He looks up to see BRIANNA.

JAKE  
What the fuck?

BRIANNA  
Hello to you too, dickhead.

JAKE picks his phone back up, rubbing his hand.

JAKE  
What the hell do you want?

BRIANNA  
You know we’re doing Christina Rossetti for the project?

JAKE  
Uh, yeah? I was in the class with you.

BRIANNA  
Let me handle the powerpoint. I love her stuff and I know you would fuck it up because you wouldn’t see the obvious lesbian subtext. And you wouldn’t call out the shit she did. And, you know, you just would.

JAKE  
[sarcastic] Thanks a lot. What exactly do you want me to do then?

BRIANNA  
I don't know. Research. Do the speech. Sit and look pretty. Just don't get in my way.

JAKE  
Okay, but why didn’t you just text me about it? You know, like a _normal person?_

BRIANNA  
Don’t wanna taint my inbox with your negative vibes. 

JAKE rolls his eyes, scoffing, as BRIANNA shrugs.

BRIANNA  
Later.

BRIANNA starts to walk away, and JAKE wants to say more, but doesn't know what.

JAKE  
Stop!

BRIANNA stops and turns around.

BRIANNA  
The fuck you want?

JAKE panics.

JAKE  
Will you give me my weed back?

BRIANNA  
No.

JAKE  
No?

BRIANNA  
Well, why should I?

JAKE  
Because I went to the meeting.

BRIANNA  
You skipped the first ten minutes and barely paid attention the whole time. And you didn’t bring any friends, so basically, you didn’t do anything. So no. I’ll tell you when I feel like giving it back.

BRIANNA walks away, as JAKE groans, frustrated, turning his phone back on, _“I Like You” by Dandelion Hands_ beginning to play. He looks at the paused video for a few moments, goes out of the video and makes a new Youtube account called “Jack Valentine”.

He likes the video , subscribes to the channel and goes down to the comment section, where there’s two comments - one from KAYLA saying “thanks for uploading ellie!” and one from a user called “daveeeeeeee” saying “Fag”.

JAKE comments on his new account, saying “I hope the show went well!!!! You sound really passionate about it!!!! The show you talked about sounds really good too!!!!”. He hits comment and closes his eyes as it shows up, on the bottom of the list.

He clicks on the side of it and hovers over delete, waiting for himself to press it. He surprises himself and doesn’t.

JAKE turns off his phone, rolls his earphones around it and puts it in his pocket. He gets up and walks down the corridor, trying to remain expressionless, but he lets a little bit of his smile show.


	3. CLIP THREE: "If You Want To Fuck"

**WEDNESDAY, 16TH OCTOBER, 12:09**

EXT. COURTYARD

BRYAN, RORY and JAKE sit together, their backs to the camera, all wearing matching black and white letterman jackets, with their surnames written on the back.

BRYAN  
Seriously, these new jackets are so fucking cool.

RORY  
_Such_ a good idea. I feel like an American.

JAKE  
And now they’re ruined! Thanks Rory!

RORY  
Piss off!

RORY shoves JAKE with his shoulder.

BRYAN  
But the ladies are gonna love it!

RORY  
Yeah!

BRYAN  
And we can give our jackets to them after we fuck, and they can wear them around the school, it’ll be fucking awesome.

JAKE nods, looking away as he sighs silently. He sees RORI and LIZ sitting together, eating identical lunches. He breathes out a little sigh of relief, finding his escape, and turns back to BRYAN and RORY, expressionless.

JAKE  
Oh, I gotta go talk to the girls about a club thing.

BRYAN  
Fucking loser!

JAKE flips him off and jogs over to where RORI and LIZ are.

JAKE  
Rori, Liz! Hi.

They’re both chewing, as JAKE stands in front of them in awkward silence. RORI finishes first.

RORI  
Hey, what’s up?

JAKE  
Oh, uh, I was just wondering when the next theatre group meeting is. I totally forgot.

LIZ  
Oh, the next one’s on Monday. Oh shit, I think it’s just us girls. 

RORI  
Yeah, Esther said it is, but we’re brainstorming new ideas, and you’re smart, right?

JAKE laughs, it sounds real, but there’s no joy in his eyes.

JAKE  
Technically speaking, yes?

RORI  
Great! You’ll help!

LIZ looks at RORI wearily as she smiles, JAKE smiling, looking scared.

RORI  
We need all the help we can get, right?

LIZ shrugs, as JAMES, NICK and THEO walk up to them, JAMES sitting down and putting an arm around LIZ when he arrives. There’s a distinct distance between JAKE and the rest of the group.

JAMES  
What’s up?

LIZ  
Just sorting out the Monday meeting.

JAMES  
Wish I could go, work’s a bitch.

LIZ smiles and they kiss, JAKE watching them, looking down and biting his lip. He looks over to RORI, who now has NICK sitting beside her, THEO standing next to him.

NICK  
How you doing, Rori?

RORI  
Good.

NICK  
That’s good! Really good!

RORI smiles at him and he smiles back, THEO looking between them, rolling his eyes. JAKE looks past them and his eyes go wide as he goes into slow motion.

_“Bite” by Troye Sivan_ begins to play as JAKE looks behind them and sees ALISTAIR walking past, his headphones on, his eyes closed. He opens his eyes and looks past JAKE, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, clearly deep in thought about something. JAKE looks like he would give anything to know what it is.

The music begins to cut out, still lingering, as someone walks in front of JAKE, JAKE trying to look past them.

ELEANOR [O.S.]  
Hi?

JAKE blinks quickly and looks at ELEANOR, who’s standing in front of him, ALISTAIR walking on in the background.

JAKE  
Oh. Hey, Eleanor.

ELEANOR kisses him on the cheek. JAKE looks behind himself and sees BRYAN and RORY staring at him, BRYAN giving him a thumbs up and RORY looking shocked.

ELEANOR  
Hey guys.

The others there nod and murmur greetings, none of them looking too enthusiastic about seeing her.

ELEANOR  
So, Jake, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this Friday. You know, have a drink, go to a party, hang out… 

She smiles widely at him and he nervously smiles back, the rest of the people looking a bit uncomfortable.

JAKE  
Uh, yeah. Sure. If my friends can come.

ELEANOR looks over at the group, her eyes lingering on LIZ.

ELEANOR  
Um, I don’t see why not!

JAKE  
No, no, _they’re_ not my friends.

NICK  
Bitch?

JAKE looks at him, trying to be stone faced but some of his smile slips out, and then points at BRYAN and RORY.

JAKE  
_ Those _are my friends.

ELEANOR  
Oh. Cool. I’ll text you?

JAKE  
Sure.

She kisses him on the cheek again and then walks off. There’s an awkward pause.

THEO  
She seemed... nice.

LIZ  
She acted like we weren’t even here. What a bitch.

THEO  
Don’t be mean.

LIZ  
I do what I want.

JAMES  
She does what she wants, Theodore!

LIZ holds her hand up and JAMES high fives her, as RORI shakes her head, sighing.

RORI  
That’s so fucked up. New girls shouldn’t go after the guys already here, then who are us girls meant to go after? The new, loser guys? _ Younger _guys? Guys from other schools who’ll we’ll hardly see? Ew.

NICK  
I mean, if you want to fuck…

He raises his eyebrows at her, and she just stares at him for a moment.

RORI  
Don’t be rude.

NICK looks around, confused, but then laughs.

NICK  
Just offering!

THEO  
Such a fucking idiot.

The group begin to all talk over each other, JAKE remaining silent as he looks at them, completely expressionless.

JAKE silently walks back towards BRYAN and RORY, briefly looking over to where ALISTAIR was walking. There's no one there now.


	4. CLIP FOUR: "Everything's An Act When You're Pleasing Everyone"

**FRIDAY, 18TH OCTOBER, 00:41**

INT. JAKE’S ROOM, JAKE’S HOUSE

_“The Daisy Chain” by The Growlers_ plays as JAKE lies on his bed, his laptop next to him, as he scrolls through Instagram his phone, his earphones in.

He passes some pictures of the GIRL SQUAD, some depression memes, some pictures of BRYAN, RORY and him in their new jackets, some photos of random people from school and some cute animal videos and photos. All very generic, all very seen before.

There’s a video on his profile of him and all four of his dogs playing a game of fetch that he rewatches. SNOWFLAKE wins. He smiles at that and reaches down to his left, petting SNOWFLAKE on the head as she sleeps next to him. 

He scrolls back up and refreshes, seeing a picture of ELEANOR, smiling, with the caption: “My cover of All I’ve Ever Known from Hadestown coming out tomorrow!! Be sure to check it out!!”. JAKE slides to the next photo, and there’s ALISTAIR, doing a peace sign with a polite smile, as ELEANOR sticks her tongue out next to him. 

He screenshots the photo and goes to his gallery, selecting the photo and zooming in on ALISTAIR, as a faint spitting sound is heard in the background.

JAKE tenses and takes his headphones off. He quickly gets up, throwing his phone onto his bed and walks out of the room, silently closing the door behind him.

INT. HALLWAY

JAKE walks down the dark hallway, towards an open door with light streaming out of it.

CHRISTINE is in the bathroom, brushing her teeth carefully, looking into a mirror. JAKE watches her from the doorway, not sure of what to do. He pities her. 

After a few moments, CHRISTINE sees him in the mirror and sighs, spitting out the toothpaste.

JAKE  
What’re you doing up this late?

CHRISTINE  
What are _ you _doing up this late, Mister? It’s a school night.

She forces a laugh, but JAKE doesn’t smile.

JAKE  
You should go to sleep.

CHRISTINE  
I will, I promise, just-- My teeth don’t feel clean. I can’t sleep until they’re clean.

JAKE sighs, looking up briefly, as CHRISTINE looks down guiltily.

JAKE  
Yeah… 

CHRISTINE  
Good night, son.

JAKE begins to walk away.

JAKE  
Yeah, love you.

CHRISTINE  
Mmm… 

JAKE closes the bathroom door, leaving the hallway in complete darkness.

INT. JAKE’S ROOM

JAKE lies back down on his bed and picks his laptop up, setting it on his chest. He opens Google Chrome and the tab open is one of ELEANOR’s cover videos - “Hello” by Lionel Ritchie - with ALISTAIR playing piano in the background, his face unseen. The video’s paused, at the end.

JAKE scrolls down and we see that it came out on Monday, and the description says “For the new Love of my life. (Note: this is a cover of the Glee version, with my lovely pianist on Groffsauce’s harmonies.)” 

JAKE likes the video, his face expressionless, and comments, on an account called “Jake Love” saying: “Sounds great!!! I love that song.”

He pauses for a moment, and then searches “bare a pop opera”. He gets many results, all of different productions and covers. He scrolls for a bit, and then changes the search to say “bare a pop opera michael arden”. A video called “Act 1 of NOT Bare: A Pop Opera 2004 Off-Broadway” comes up.

JAKE clicks on it, soft flute music beginning to play, that transitions into _“Role Of A Lifetime” by Matt Doyle,_ as JAKE watches an altar boy get lifted into a cross position, looking both amused and scared - like he knows too well what’s happening.

We shift ahead in time, JAKE sitting up a bit more, the altar boy and a blonde guy hold hands as everyone in the background is frozen. JAKE has an almost relieved smile on his face, like he can’t believe what he’s seeing.

Going ahead in time, JAKE’s now lying on his stomach, his laptop in front of him, showing two almost-naked people - the blonde guy and a brunette girl - pretending to have sex on a dresser, the altar boy behind them, on the verge of tears.

We shift ahead in time and see the altar boy on the phone to an older woman on the other side of the stage, the boy yelling, as JAKE begins to tear up, biting his lip to keep himself from crying.

We shift once more and see the blonde guy in a confession booth, sobbing and screaming, an emotionless priest next to him. JAKE’s hiding most of his face with his pillow, as he’s now sitting up again, only his crying eyes visible as he sobs into his pillow.

He tightly holds a pillow to his chest as the music fades away, JAKE quietly sobbing as the laptop screen goes black, leaving JAKE barely visible, until the recommended videos pop up, lighting him back up.

He waits for a few long moments, slightly steadying his breath, and opens his eyes again. He sees many other musicals, but most notably “Be More Chill - Spotlight Performing Arts Brighton”.

He clicks on it, wiping his tears as the lights come up, ALISTAIR on stage, sitting on a bed, a laptop in front of him, in the same blue cardigan from the video and no trousers.

ALISTAIR  
_ C-c-c-come on, c-c-c-come on, go, go  
_ _ C-c-c-come on, c-c-c-come on, go, go _

ALISTAIR turns to the audience, annoyed as JAKE smiles slightly.

ALISTAIR  
_ I’m waiting for my porno to load! _

JAKE breathes a short laugh out through his nose, sniffing and wiping his eyes again. JAKE hugs the pillow closer and pauses the video, bookmarking the page and then closing his laptop.

He lies back on his bed, his eyes wide open, surrounded by his black sheets. He finally closes his eyes and rubs his head, like he has a headache.

JAKE  
[whispers] Fuck… 


	5. CLIP FIVE: "Okay"

**FRIDAY, 18TH OCTOBER, 15:35**

EXT. STREET

_“Swear To God the Devil Made Me Do It” by The Front Bottoms_ plays as JAKE, BRYAN and RORY walk down the street together, in their lettermans, laughing and talking silently, pushing each other around, having a good time.

The music fades out as they walk down a street, JAKE kicking a stone on the ground.

RORY  
Jake, when’s the party tonight?

JAKE  
It’s not a party, it’s a pre-drink.

RORY  
Same thing.

JAKE  
Ellie hasn’t texted me yet.

BRYAN and RORY both “ooh”.

BRYAN  
“Ellie” now, is she?

JAKE  
Fuck off.

RORY  
Is our little boy in love?

JAKE  
No way. I just think she’s hot.

BRYAN  
Ah, same as every other girl in our year.

JAKE  
Okay, virgin.

BRYAN  
I fucked Sandy!

RORY  
[coughs into his hand] Lesbian!

BRYAN  
Guys can fuck lesbians.

RORY  
Yeah, but like… 

BRYAN  
And girls fuck gay guys all the time. You know, to turn them.

JAKE  
Bi people exist, Bryan.

BRYAN  
Like who?

JAKE  
Nick Braxton.

BRYAN  
Total fag.

RORY  
Yeah, he’s literally the gayest person I’ve ever seen.

BRYAN  
You’ve seen his hair, right?

They all laugh, JAKE looking away from them.

JAKE  
Yeah, I-- I gotta go now.

RORY  
What?! Why?

JAKE  
Theatre club thing. I told you, right?

RORY  
No!

JAKE  
Sorry.

BRYAN  
Seriously? I knew that club was fucking evil.

JAKE  
[sarcastic] Ha ha.

RORY  
It’s a cult.

BRYAN  
It so fucking is!

BRYAN and RORY laugh as JAKE sarcastically laughs, them walking on, their backs to the camera. JAKE sighs and crosses the road, jogging lightly.

EXT. SALLIS BENNEY THEATRE

JAKE walks towards the theatre, turning his head to see BRYAN and RORY walking on the road opposite him, looking at him.

They flip him off, grinning, talking to each other indistinctly, and he waves, turning back around and walking into the theatre.

INT. ENTRANCE HALL, THEATRE

JAKE walks into the entrance hall and closes the door behind him, ending the song, as faint piano music begins playing from inside the theatre, with someone even more faintly humming along.

JAKE leans against the door, sighing, clearly unsure of what to do next.

SINGER [O.S.]  
__ The people all are pointing  
__ I bet they'd never guess  
_ That the saint that they're anointing  
_ __ Is frightened of the mess

JAKE smiles a little, going towards the door into the theatre, slowly opening it.

SINGER [O.S.]  
_ But even though I fear it  
_ _ I'm playin' all my cards _

INT. STAGE, THEATRE

JAKE silently enters the theatre and sees, on the other side of the theatre, someone in a yellow hoodie sitting at the piano. He slowly moves closer, going across the back of the seats.

SINGER  
_ Baby, you are gonna hear it  
_ _ When I give them my regards _

The SINGER throws his head back, singing his face off, and his hood falls down, showing a mess of ginger hair. JAKE smiles, his thoughts confirmed.

ALISTAIR  
__ I'm fallin' baby  
__ Through the sky, through the sky  
__ Now I'm fallin', baby through the sky  
__ It's my callin', baby  
__ Don't you cry, don't you cry  
__ And I'm fallin' down through the sky  
__ And I refuse to go numb  
__ Oh, Broadway here I come  
__ Broadway, here I come  
__ Broadway, here I come  
_ Oh, Broadway, Broadway, here I come  
_ __ Here I come!

JAKE’s eyes go wide at the high note as ALISTAIR keeps playing, a triumphant smile on his face.

ALISTAIR  
__ And the last thing I hear  
__ As the impact grows near  
__ Is it a scream or a cheer?  
_ Well, never mind, I'll never find out  
_ __ 'Cause Broadway I am here

ALISTAIR hits a wrong note and groans, playing the right chord over and over again as JAKE finally reaches him.

ALISTAIR  
[playing the chord with each word] Why does God hate me?

JAKE  
I’m sure he doesn’t.

ALISTAIR jumps, accidentally slamming the keys as he turns to see JAKE. He smiles back at him.

ALISTAIR  
Are you always so scary?

JAKE  
Are you always singing?

ALISTAIR shrugs.

ALISTAIR  
I was just practising.

JAKE  
Practising for what?

ALISTAIR  
Fun. What are you doing here?

JAKE  
Just… Chilling.

ALISTAIR raises his eyebrows at JAKE, who chuckles nervously.

ALISTAIR  
Okay, you’re either hiding from the police or you’re stalking me.

JAKE  
Caught red-handed. I just stole a rig from Clock Tower Cameras to put here so I could film you and sell it twenty years later from my shitty flat to your adoring fans.

ALISTAIR  
[laughing] Jesus, okay.

There’s a pause, JAKE laughing a bit nervously, trying to find the right thing to say.

JAKE  
I’m actually, uh, hiding from my friends.

ALISTAIR smiles and nods at him, as if to say “go on”.

JAKE  
I just-- I don’t know. Rory’s always been a dickhead, he tries to act like he isn’t and that he’ll get better, but no, and Bryan… Look, if I didn’t know him since I could walk, I would say he was the biggest asshole I’ve ever met, but… Shit, I guess I don’t really like my friends.

ALISTAIR  
That's funny, I don’t really like your friends either.

JAKE laughs, shocked, as ALISTAIR stands up.

ALISTAIR  
I was here to do some choreographing, but I got distracted by this lovely lady.

He strokes the top of the piano lovingly, smiling at it.

ALISTAIR  
I just couldn’t keep my hands off her.

JAKE  
Okay, if you’re gonna get your dick out, I’m gonna leave.

ALISTAIR  
Jake… 

JAKE gasps.

JAKE  
Fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t--

ALISTAIR  
[laughing] It’s fine, it’s fine. I call that shit my dick anyway. Well, talk of my dick aside, I seriously need to do this, or else Eleanor’s gonna kill me. We have this showcase thing at Christmas, she wants us to do the entirety of Dancing Through Life from Wicked. All 7 minutes and 37 seconds. Including the scene before. So it’s like 10 minutes.

JAKE  
Okay, cool… Um, I’ll go then--

ALISTAIR  
You could stay.

JAKE looks at him, tilting his head slightly.

ALISTAIR  
I mean, it’s a group number, it would help to have an extra body.

JAKE  
I don’t dance. Like, at all. I just, like, slightly swayed for Grease.

ALISTAIR  
Everyone can dance. I’ll teach you.

JAKE  
You won’t be able to help me, I’m a lost cause.

ALISTAIR  
Jake Whatever-Your-Middle-Name-Is Love, I have competed in the World Dance Championships, I can do anything with my brain and my feet. And arms. And hands. And-- Just-- Just the whole body. And insides, uh, of my body. 

JAKE  
[laughing] Organs, I think they’re called.

ALISTAIR nervously laughs, looking down and nodding, as there’s a pause. ALISTAIR looks up at JAKE.

JAKE  
Okay. I’ll try and help.

ALISTAIR grins and runs towards the stage, jumping onto it, spreading his arms out like Jesus on the cross and spinning around.

ALISTAIR  
Feel the space! Feel the air around you!

JAKE climbs onto the stage, as ALISTAIR continues to spin around, laughing to himself.

JAKE  
Are you high?

ALISTAIR jumps up and down on the spot.

ALISTAIR  
I’m getting a feel! I’m seeing what the universe has in store for me today. What thoughts it will choose to give me, what inspiration, what--

JAKE  
Pretension?

ALISTAIR  
Exactly! Big word, I’m surprised.

JAKE  
That’s mean.

ALISTAIR shrugs, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone.

JAKE  
Don’t record me.

ALISTAIR  
I’m not gonna?

JAKE  
Okay. Good. 

There’s a pause, ALISTAIR still on his phone.

JAKE  
Just-- Just don’t want to blind them all with my sick moves.

ALISTAIR  
Sure thing.

ALISTAIR presses something on his phone and _“Movement” by Hozier_ begins to play, everything going into slow motion. ALISTAIR beginning to dance, swaying, gliding along the floor, moving his arms delicately, almost ballet-like, as JAKE watches him, transfixed.

ALISTAIR looks directly at JAKE, who quickly looks away as everything goes back to normal speed.

JAKE  
This doesn’t sound very theatre.

ALISTAIR  
Because it isn’t. Just… Let the music control you. Let go of everything else. Just… be.

JAKE  
Be?

ALISTAIR throws his hands in the air.

ALISTAIR  
Be!

The song continues as ALISTAIR continues to dance, JAKE beginning to slightly sway along with him. ALISTAIR’s too lost in the music to notice. JAKE smiles and begins to wave his arms around, not beautiful at all, but happy.

ALISTAIR looks over at him, and pirouettes perfectly over to him, landing a little bit away from his face. JAKE stops.

ALISTAIR  
Keep going.

JAKE starts to do what he was doing before, waving his arms, but he does it more slow this time, almost like he’s thinking about what he’s doing, but not thinking at the same time. He doesn’t break eye contact with ALISTAIR.

JAKE begins to repeat his moves, as ALISTAIR begins to copy him, turning JAKE’s messy, haphazard flailing into an actual sort of dance, a lot more practise and care put into it.

JAKE starts to copy ALISTAIR a bit more, getting a bit less stiff, as their timing gets better, almost in sync.

ALISTAIR stops, smiling like he’s seeing something for the first time, and JAKE stops too, smiling sheepishly.

ALISTAIR  
That’s seriously perfect.

JAKE  
Really?

ALISTAIR  
Just what I needed for Elphaba and Galinda’s dance sequence.

JAKE  
I have no idea what any of those words mean.

ALISTAIR laughs, pausing the music, panting. There’s a pause before he steps away from JAKE, who nervously laughs.

JAKE  
Fuck, I’m dying for a smoke.

ALISTAIR  
You know, I think I have some stuff left at my house. I think I might actually try it this time.

JAKE  
What about your dancing?

ALISTAIR  
I can do more later, I got everything I need for today.

JAKE  
What about your parents? Or mine?

ALISTAIR  
Fuck them!

JAKE laughs.

ALISTAIR  
Seriously. Come home with me.

JAKE  
You could be a murderer.

ALISTAIR  
So could you, but that’s not stopping me.

JAKE smiles at ALISTAIR, shaking his head.

ALISTAIR  
What? Would that be breaking your curfew? Your trainers gonna turn into even worse trainers?

JAKE  
My trainers are cool!

ALISTAIR  
Yeah, if your male fashion standards only come from Coronation Street and the football tournament.

JAKE  
It’s a league, not a tournament.

ALISTAIR  
All sports things are basically the same!

JAKE  
You’re insulting my entire culture.

ALISTAIR  
The lad culture?

JAKE  
I am not a lad!

ALISTAIR  
[in a bad impersonation of a lad accent] Want a Cheeky Nando’s, bruv?

JAKE  
[laughing] Never speak again.

ALISTAIR pouts as JAKE climbs off of the stage, ALISTAIR jumping off after him and landing beside him.

EXT. ALISTAIR’S HOUSE

It’s a pretty dingy street, fairly working class. Some graffiti on the walls, weeds growing between the pavement. JAKE steps on one as he and ALISTAIR approach a small house at the end of the row - with the best kept garden out of them all.

ALISTAIR  
The flowers are leaving now. I’m gonna miss them.

JAKE  
They’ll come back.

ALISTAIR  
Not soon enough though.

ALISTAIR leads them up the garden path and into the house.

INT. FRONT HALL, ALISTAIR’S HOUSE

A custard coloured cat walks past them and hisses at ALISTAIR.

ALISTAIR  
That’s Cuck Bastard.

JAKE  
What?

ALISTAIR  
His Christian name is Custard, but I choose to call him Cuck Bastard.

CUSTARD hisses from the other room as ALISTAIR takes his coat off, hanging it up as JAKE looks around the room at a picture of the Virgin Mary on the wall.

ALISTAIR  
He hates me. [yells to the rest of the house] Hello? Anyone home?

There’s no response. ALISTAIR grins.

ALISTAIR  
Fuck yeah, let’s go.

ALISTAIR runs up the stairs, as JAKE quickly waves to CUSTARD, following him.

INT. ALISTAIR’S ROOM

The small room is painted cream and covered in posters, sheets of paper and scraps of anything just tacked onto the wall. It’s messy, but very alive. ALISTAIR walks in and jumps onto his bed, which has constellation sheets, as JAKE awkwardly stands in the doorway.

ALISTAIR  
Make yourself at home.

JAKE sits in the desk chair next to a desk pressed against the wall. He’s basically sitting beside ALISTAIR.

JAKE  
Where’s the weed?

ALISTAIR leans off of the bed precariously and reaching into a drawer full of underwear, sports bras and binders. He pulls out a little bag of weed and hands it to JAKE as he falls back onto the bed.

JAKE  
Nice hiding place.

ALISTAIR  
Thanks. My step-sister hides it in the same place, so I just copy her.

JAKE  
You look in your sister’s pants drawer?

ALISTAIR  
Fuck no! I hear her on the phone to her friends through the wall, it’s exhausting. But I do know all of her secrets.

JAKE  
Oh?

ALISTAIR  
Yeah. I literally know everyone’s secrets. Because I’m so quiet, they just tell me everything and think I won’t tell anyone?

JAKE  
You? Quiet?

ALISTAIR smiles at him, as JAKE gets papers out from his pockets and begins rolling a joint.

ALISTAIR  
Why do you think I’m not?

JAKE  
You’re not with me.

ALISTAIR  
Because I’m not pretending. When I’m with you, I just… am.

JAKE laughs, handing ALISTAIR a joint.

JAKE  
Which John Green book did you get that out of?

ALISTAIR  
Hadestown. The musical.

JAKE  
Oh, yeah, your cover of it’s gonna be up today.

ALISTAIR smiles.

ALISTAIR  
How’d you know?

JAKE  
Just… saw.

ALISTAIR  
Okay.

JAKE  
Okay.

There’s a pause. JAKE finishes rolling his own joint and gets a lighter out of his pocket.

ALISTAIR  
Okay.

JAKE  
Okay.

They both laugh a little as JAKE lights his joint.

ALISTAIR  
Maybe “okay” will be our--

JAKE reaches over and puts ALISTAIR’s joint in his mouth.

ALISTAIR  
[slightly muffled] You see, you put the thing that does the killing--

JAKE  
Finish that, and I’ll light your fucking house on fire.

ALISTAIR  
Ooh, so scary! Just light me up, or whatever the weed kids say.

JAKE  
You’re probably not gonna feel it first time.

ALISTAIR shrugs and JAKE lights ALISTAIR’s joint, as _“Youth” by Troye Sivan_ starts to play. JAKE takes a drag from his joint and ALISTAIR attempts to copy him, ending up coughing as JAKE laughs. ALISTAIR then opens a window, brushing past JAKE as he does.

We see a montage of them smoking, JAKE showing ALISTAIR how to do it better, as they talk and laugh, JAKE leaning towards ALISTAIR on the chair as ALISTAIR sits up properly. JAKE takes off his letterman and puts it on the back of his chair.

JAKE and ALISTAIR lie on ALISTAIR’s bed, JAKE’s feet at ALISTAIR’s head and ALISTAIR’s feet at JAKE’s head. Both of them are smoking, ALISTAIR looking a lot more used to it.

ALISTAIR  
What are you afraid of?

JAKE  
What am I afraid of?

ALISTAIR  
Yeah.

JAKE  
I don’t know. The normal shit.

ALISTAIR  
What’s that, then?

JAKE  
I don’t know… Like spiders.

ALISTAIR  
Spiders? Little spiders?

JAKE  
And big ones. I hate all spiders, I don’t discriminate.

ALISTAIR  
But they’re so nice! They’re babies!

JAKE  
They just get everywhere, I don’t trust it.

There’s a pause.

JAKE  
What are you afraid of?

ALISTAIR  
Nothing. [pause] Everything. [pause] Everyone. [pause] Myself.

JAKE  
Why?

ALISTAIR  
We should all be afraid of nothing and everything, but ignore all of that fear to keep surviving.

JAKE looks over at ALISTAIR’s very overcrowded bookshelf.

JAKE  
Which one of them said that?

ALISTAIR  
Me.

JAKE  
Damn.

There’s a pause, neither of them really sure what to say.

JAKE  
Where’d you get this shit? It’s really good.

ALISTAIR  
Nick Braxton.

JAKE  
Oh. Cool.

ALISTAIR  
Yeah, he is. Great hair.

There’s a pause, as both of them take a drag.

ALISTAIR  
What’s your _thing,_ Jake?

JAKE  
Hmm?

ALISTAIR  
What’s, like, the thing that makes you happy to be alive?

JAKE  
I don’t know.

There’s a long pause, JAKE thinking, not wanting to say too much or not enough, ALISTAIR watching him.

ALISTAIR  
Come on. There has to be something.

JAKE  
Football, I guess. Weed. Beer.

He hesitates.

JAKE  
Girls.

ALISTAIR  
So… That’s it?

JAKE  
Yep.

ALISTAIR  
Where’s your passion?

JAKE  
I don’t know. I-- I really like my dogs?

ALISTAIR sits up excitedly.

ALISTAIR  
You have dogs?!

JAKE  
Wanna see?

ALISTAIR nods, smiling widely as JAKE takes out his phone and opens a picture of his four dogs and one cat.

JAKE  
[pointing them out] That’s Jack, she’s a little troublemaker, but she’s only young. That’s Valentine, she’s an old dame, as my mum says. Very sophisticated and snooty. That’s Velma, she’s always looking around for new things, and that one’s Snowflake. She looks all cute and innocent, but she can and will kill.

ALISTAIR  
I love them! Who’s the cat?

JAKE  
Dog.

ALISTAIR  
What?

JAKE  
Her name is Dog.

ALISTAIR laughs, throwing his head back, JAKE smiling at him.

ALISTAIR  
That’s amazing. The best thing ever. You’ll have to introduce me someday.

JAKE  
Yeah. Yeah, I-- I will.

There’s another pause, both of them smiling at each other..

ALISTAIR  
What’s your middle name?

JAKE stiffens a bit.

JAKE  
Uh, David.

ALISTAIR  
Why?

JAKE  
It was my dad’s name.

ALISTAIR  
Was?

JAK  
He, um, he died. In June.

ALISTAIR's eyes go wide, looking pained by his own mistake. JAKE awkwardly laughs.

ALISTAIR  
Oh. That... That sucks.

JAKE  
Yeah.

There’s a pause, JAKE laughing a little to fill the void.

JAKE  
So, uh, what’s yours?

ALISTAIR  
Thomas.

JAKE  
Why?

ALISTAIR  
I just liked it.

JAKE  
Okay.

ALISTAIR  
Okay.

JAKE  
Don’t do this again.

ALISTAIR laughs, and JAKE joins in, as there are footsteps on the stairs. ALISTAIR freezes up immediately.

ALISTAIR  
Fuck, fuck, fuck, get rid of the weed!

JAKE  
How?!

ALISTAIR  
I don’t know, eat it?!

JAKE  
_ Eat it?! _

ALISTAIR makes a long vowel noise, waving his arms around, handing JAKE his joint, as ELEANOR walks into the room.

ELEANOR  
Ali, thank God, I’m about to die.

She sees JAKE holding two joints, smiling nervously.

ELEANOR  
Jake?

JAKE  
Hey Ellie. What are you doing here?

ELEANOR  
What are  _ you  _ doing here?

JAKE  
Hanging out with my friend?

ELEANOR looks between JAKE and ALISTAIR and sits between them, kissing JAKE’s cheek quickly and turning to ALISTAIR, "Talk" by Hozier beginning to play, JAKE still looking at ALISTAIR.

ELEANOR  
[muffled] Okay, so I was thinking, for my next cover, I should sing “Helpless” from Hamilton, because, you know, it sort of gets my whole mood, and I think we would sound really amazing together, especially on the harmonies, and it’s been so long since we’ve sang any Hamilton together, you know? And you can play it really well, seriously, your hands are like magic. So it’s a plan?

ALISTAIR nods, and then looks over at JAKE and smiles apologetically. JAKE nods, and looks away, ELEANOR continuing to talk to ALISTAIR silently.

_ CUT TO END CREDITS AS THE SONG CONTINUES _

_ CUT TO BLACK _


End file.
